biological psychology vocab quiz 1

central nervous system

The brain and the spinal cord

peripheral nervous system

The sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body.

somatic nervous system

the division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles

autonomic nervous system

the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs.

sympathetic nervous system

The division of the ANS that arouses the body, mobilizing energy

Fight-or-flight”

parasympathetic nervous system

The division of the ANS that calms the body, conserves energy

“Rest and Digest”

endocrine system

the body's "slow" chemical

communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream

hormones

chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands and travel through the bloodstream

adrenal glands

a pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete hormones like epinephrine and adrenaline that help arouse the body.

pituitary gland

the endocrine system's most influential gland. Controlled by the hypothalamus, it regulates growth and controls other glands.

pineal gland

Secretes melatonin which regulates the sleep-wake cycle

sensory (afferent neurons)

neurons that carry incoming information from the body's tissues and sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord

motor (afferent) nerons

Carry information from the brain to muscles and neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands

terminal branches

elongated ends of the axon that end in a button like structure that join the dendrites of a receiving neuron at the synapse

dendrites

a neuron's often busy, branching extensions that receive and integrate messages, conducting impulses toward the cell body

axon

the neuron extension that carries messages away from the cell body, through its branches, to other neurons or to muscles or glands

myelin sheath

a fatty tissue layer segmentally encasing the axons of some neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed as neural impulses hop from one node to the next

glial cells

cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons; create myelin sheath

synapse

the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron.